Vodafone said today it would sell Siemens the remaining stake in engineering and automotive firm Atecs Mannesmann for €3.657 billion.
The German technology giant had already paid €3.1 billion for a stake of 50 per cent plus two shares in Atecs after Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile phone network operator and parent of Eircell, won an epic battle to take over Mannesmann in 2000 and began selling off units outside the mobile phone business.
Siemens will make a cash payment for the remainder of Atecs by the end of March. The €3.66 billion was the lowest amount Siemens could pay for the option, originally valued at up to €3.807 billion depending on its trading performance.
Money from the option, which expired at the end of 2003, would be used as part of Vodafone's management of about £17 billion sterling debt but was not earmarked for any specific purpose, a spokeswoman said.
Shares in Vodafone, a company worth around £110 billion on the stock market, rose three pence or 1.9 per cent to 164 pence following the announcement. Siemens extended early losses, down 1.36 per cent at €71.67 euros, making it the biggest loser among European blue-chip stocks.
The original deal valued Atecs at around €9.6 billion, as Siemens had agreed to assume a further €2.8 billion in debt and pension obligations.